Drone Photography

In march of last year I began writing this article after reading another interesting article in National Geographic. The article was related to the use of drones. There had been a lot of coverage about the United States use of drones at that time and it all sparked an idea in me. Unfortunately the article got shelved while I started working on other projects. The article I was writing was from a theoretical point of view, but now it appears it is reality. So read this short article and then check out the real deal.

As I was reading an article in the March 2013 National Geographic magazine I had to stop as inspiration for this article struck. The article was about drones, which are a controversial topic. Drones hold a lot of potential, potential for good and ill. I prefer to see the potential for good.

As a wildlife and nature photographer I began to imagine the possibilities which were hinted at in the article. 

The possibilities for documenting wildlife, habitats, and behaviors that are currently difficult to observe in the wild are unimaginable. As this technology improves there is so much that could be done. 

I first thought of wildlife specials like big cat diary in Animal planet. Forget trying to navigate the savanna in jeeps with break downs and slow moving over rugged terrain. Simply send out a drone and follow the wildlife and zoom in or fly down to get images of the behaviors you are trying to study. 

Trying to fund a radio collared animal to continue a study? Send out a drone to home in on the signal and send the coordinates back to you. Perhaps even anesthetize the animal via drone. We can launch attacks via drone a tranquilizer should be comparatively simple. 

The article alludes to a spy drone designed to look like a hummingbird. Imagine the possibilities of being able to infiltrate animal habitats completely camouflaged as an element naturally occurring in the environment. Currently this is often done by getting up extremely early and staying in a hide for extremely long hours for days on end waiting to observe behaviors often in inhospitable environments. Imagine being able to accomplish this from the comfort of a lodge. This technology could even reduce any impact caused by our attempts to document animals.

The downside to this technology is it would remove us from the amazing experience of seeing the wildlife in person. I don’t think there is anything in the world that can replace the feeling of experiencing wildlife first hand and I believe that feeling and the associated emotions are critical for protecting and conserving our wildlife and their habitats but I think there are clearly situations where the use of technology would be preferential as a way to get better data as well as protecting wildlife and habitats from increased stresses. 

To see my speculations come to life check out Will Burrard-Lucas (http://www.burrard-lucas.com/), a professional wildlife photographer from the UK who uses innovative tools such as BeetleCam and now BeetleCopter to gain unusual perspectives. This seems to be drone photography as I imagined it come to life. I am excited to see where this will go.

You can also check out my photography at krnaturalphoto.photoshelter.com and follow me on social media at KRNaturalPhoto.

The Mystery of Caspian: Behavior: the good, the bad, and the ugly

For those of you that don't know. My wife and I had a dog named Caspian come into our lives at about the middle of 2013. Caspian being part of our lives has been a mixed bag. We love him but we have definitely had to do some very serious thinking in regard to him that I never imagined I would do.

Have you ever said something and each time you say it you can't help but think how ridiculous it sounds. Like it doesn't even make sense but you know in your heart it is true even if it is incompatible logically? Well, that is the very essence of the story of having Caspian in our lives. I think that when we talk to the average person about our story with Caspian they look at us like we're not making any sense. I think dog lovers that are committed to helping dogs, particularly shelter dogs have a better understanding of where we are coming from. But I still sometimes feel like some of them might think we are crazy.

So here is the quick version of the story of Caspian in our lives:

My wife, Debby, was enrolled in Karen Prior Clicker Training Academy working towards becoming a certified dog trainer. She was going through the program with our Bernese Mountain Dog, Buck. Unfortunately Buck is getting older and has some health concerns and simply could not keep up with the program physically. Debby needed a new dog to go through the training with. Our other dogs were not good candidates for various reasons each different for each dog. By the way, at the time we had 3 other dogs. We decided a good option might be to work with a local shelter and see if they might have a dog that could benefit from some added training to make them little more adoptable. Caspian fit the bill. He had a little bit of a history of not getting along with strangers. He also reportedly had the potential to bite. We met him without dogs and it was a successful meet. Everyone got along and he seemed to be perfectly comfortable with us even as strangers. So we decided to foster him as he went through training. We have since adopted Caspian.

Caspian is an energetic dog and for the most part a very well behaved dog. For a dog coming from a shelter where he had been for a long period of time he fit in well in our home with us and our 4 other dogs. He is a loving and very snuggly dog. He will climb right into your lap. and curl up on you. He always wants to be with his humans. Very much a Velcro dog. It seemed odd that a dog with a reported history of problems with strangers would so quickly adapt to two completely new people.

After a bit of time we saw what his one problem behavior is. Sometimes when he is being petted he will suddenly snap at the hand that is petting him and "

try" to bite it. It seems like he is not really trying to bite us because it feels like if he really wanted to bite us he would. He usually does not successfully bite and he does not keep trying to bite. It's just a quick snap and then it is over. Sometimes his teeth will make contact but not actually bite. Once he bit Debby hard enough to cause some pain. He has never broken the skin or otherwise hurt us. What is most challenging about this behavior is that as far as we can tell there are no warning signs to tell us when he is going to snap at us or indicate that he is unhappy with being petted. So with this very cuddly dog who seems to crave attention and human contact and seems to want to be petted it is hard to determine the best course of action. The other problem with the snapping behavior is that it is relatively infrequent. It does not happen on a regular basis. I doubt if it happens more frequently than maybe once a week at the most and there are times when there are long stretches without it happening and then short periods of time where it happens frequently. In addition to this behavior Caspian appears to have some stereotypic type behaviors such as pacing around the coffee table and spinning that may be associated with anxiety.

We have sought advice from various dog trainers and our veterinarian. Some think the best course of action is to have him euthanize as he present a potential danger. We are currently looking into medication to see if that will help him and we are in the process of getting in to see Cornell behavior specialists to see what they think and find out what advice they have to offer.

We have been told we sound like people in an abusive behavior when we talk about him because we always say that he is so good 99% of the time but it's just the other one percent that is a problem. Perhaps that is a very apt comparison. We talk about how much we love him and we want to help him. He is so fun to play with and loves to fetch and gets along so well with the other dogs. We say he doesn't want to hurt us and he isn't otherwise aggressive towards us. We walk about how good he is and how well manners and affectionate, but there's just this biting thing. He is the perfect companion dog that I have been wanting since our lab passed. Affectionate, cuddly lap dog, that is energetic and ready to play and can go for long walks and hikes. Perhaps we are just overlooking a critical flaw because we want this relationship to work out so bad. We both recognize how ridiculous it can sound to say how good he is except that he tries to bite us some times.

We do our due diligence with regard to protecting both Caspian and others. He is not exposed to situations where he could harm others.

The question is are we unfit to make an objective assessment of the situation because our emotions are compromised? Or are we the perfect people to make an assessment of the situation because we have the first hand knowledge of the situation and know every aspect of his behavior both the good and the bad?

So, now the question is what do we do if Cornell also recommends us to euthanize him? How would we handle that situation? They are pretty much the experts in our area and if they don't feel it is a safe situation We may just have to make our peace with that.

We are trying to do what is best by Caspian. We want him to have a happy healthy life without harming anyone.

Sample of Chemung SPCA animal photos

Here is a sample of some of the cats and dogs that I have photographed recently at the Chemung County SPCA.

Adirondack Hike

Saturday October, 5^th I woke up at 3:00 AM to ride with a friend five hours to the High Peaks region of the Adirondack park in NY. Our plan was to summit two of the 46 high peaks in the region on our hike. We planned to hike up Giant Mountain and then depending on time, as we had to drive back that night and wanted to be off the mountain before dark, hike Rocky Peak Ridge. Giant Mountain is the 12^th highest peak out of the Adirondack 46 and Rocky Peak Ridge is number 20 on the list.

This was a new experience for me.  I had hiked a couple of mountains earlier in the year in the Adirondack region but both of them were well under 4,000 feet high and well under 2,000 feet of elevation gained during the hike. Both Giant Mountain and Rocky Peak Ridge are over 4,000 feet high and Giant Mountain has an elevation gain of approximately 3,000 feet during a three-mile hike. So, while I had a little experience on mountains it was nothing like this. I asked my friend to plan a hike that would be challenging and boy did he ever deliver.

We set a good pace on our hike up Giant Mountain reaching the summit in approximately two hours and fifteen minutes using the Zander Scott Trail route near Chapel Pond. Then we decided since we had plenty of time to get down before daylight and we still felt pretty good we would take the 1.2 mile hike down then back up to Rocky Peak Ridge. This was the most challenging part of the hike for me. There were many steep sections going both up and down requiring me to use trees and other handholds to help pull myself up or hold on while I lowered myself down. We rested for about a half an hour on Rocky Peak Ridge before heady back over to Giant Mountain and then back down off the mountain.

On the way back from Rocky Peak Ridge to Giant Mountain, the fatigue really began to set in for me. I was really struggling both physically and mentally to keep going. I needed frequent rests to gather myself. I really had to stop and get myself together physically and mentally. For a relatively short 1.2 miles back it felt like forever due to the challenging terrain. Realistically there was nothing I could do but suck it up and press on because I wasn't getting off the mountain without getting back over to Giant. We completed the round trip hike in approximately seven hours and twelve minutes. That seems like a pretty good pace to me considering the total distance was 8.4 miles.

The only downside to the trip was the weather. The temperature itself wasn't too bad. IT was in the mid to lower sixties for a high, which for me is good when I will be exerting myself quite a bit on a hike. But at the top of the mountain it was cold requiring us to don jackets to stay warm enough to stand at the summit and enjoy it for even a short period of time. The other part of the weather that made the trip a little disappointing was that it was completely cloudy. So from the summits of either mountain we could not see much of anything. Even the trees on the summit with us were partially obscured by the clouds. So, we couldn't enjoy the fall scenery from the summit, but fortunately along the hike up Giant Mountain there are many areas where the trail comes out of the woods into an exposed area where the surrounding area can be viewed from.

I try to take the positive view of the experience of not being able to see the scenery from the summit due to clouds. As we hiked up the mountain, we could see the peaks of the mountains around us and several of them appeared to be in the clouds. So in a way I feel fortunate to not have been able to have a clear view of the surrounding area from the summit. Anyone can get to see nice scenery. But you have to climb a mountain to get to stand in a cloud. It was quite an experience I could feel the moisture and see it. It obscured vision at just several feet.

I had a great time overall and I am looking forward to my next trip to the Adirondack region.

Trip to Adirondacks this weekend

This Saturday I am going on a hiking trip up to the Adirondacks with a friend of mine. The plan is to drive up and hike up a couple of mountains to the summit and then hike back down and head home. Originally, we wanted to make this a two-day trip leaving Friday and returning home Saturday night, but that did not work out. Going to the area of the Adirondacks we are going to hike at is a five-hour trip one-way for us. So to maximize our time that means leaving for our destination at 3:30 AM. I consider this a fair trade for what I am expecting to be an exceptional experience.

 

Earlier this year I undertook my very first trip to the Adirondack Mountains and I camped for a week by myself in the Long Lake area. It was such a great experience. I did a fair amount of hiking but I have never hiked as much in one day as we are planning to so I am looking forward to the challenge. I am also really looking forward to seeing the mountains ablaze with the colors of fall. I have a feeling it will truly be a sight to behold. I have seen photographs of the area in fall and the look great but everything is much better in person especially when it comes to nature.

 

Photographs of nature are great. That is why I am a photographer but nothing can compete with the real life experience and I always hope my photography will inspire someone to go out there into nature and experience it first-hand. Being out in nature is about as good as it gets to me, only made better by adding my wife and dogs to the mix.

 

For this trip, I am not planning much photography. This is a trip more for the simple enjoyment of nature and the experience. I am going to bring only one camera body with one lens attached to it and any photography I do will be with that simple set up.For most of the time the camera will likely remain tucked away in my bag only making an appearance when we reach summits or need a break.

 

I look forward to sharing more about this trip with you when I return.

Tribute To Cami

This is a sad time for my wife Debby and I. Yesterday we had to make the toughest decision that any animal lover ever has to make. It was time to allow Cami to move on to the next phase of life. Cami now waits for us at Rainbow Bridge. The ravages of lung cancer and hip dysplasia were too much for Cami and it was clear that she was not the happy enthusiastic dog she had always been.

While I am deeply saddened by this turn of events I am trying not to dwell in the loss, but remember the life and times we shared together. Now I am more thankful than ever for my obsession with photography. It has provided me with a way to keep the memories of happy times fresh in my mind so I can be uplifted by Cami's spirit by looking at her photographs. It's funny because over the years as a photographer I have shared many photos of Cami and always tried to pick out the ones that were the best quality to share. But sometimes those great photos that look just right don't tell the whole story. Its the odd picture here and there that looks a little goofy or that you just took for the heck of it with no planning or thought that truly depicts a life. So below I have posted many pictures of Cami, many of which I probably haven't shared before. Some because they weren't "good enough". Some just because I have so darn many. Here are some of the photos that to me represent Cami's life.

This is a photograph of Cami when she was a puppy. Such an adorable little bundle of fur. She always had that cuteness factor.

This photo represents what my wife and I now call the awkward phase. She has gotten taller and longer but hasn't filled in yet. We thought she was so cute then, but when we looked back at the pictures later we always thought she looked so goofy compared to when she was fully grown.

Cami has always loved being out in the snow. Just prancing around the yard looking gorgeous.

With her thick long fur it was never a problem to just lie down and relax in the snow and just enjoy the weather. She never cared about what we humans complain of as bad weather.

She always looked like a smiley happy dog.

This was just one of those moments that just happened and was so cute. Cami just decided to lie down right in this bed of wild flowers and I could not resist taking a photo. Cami was always so photogenic and willing to sit for a photo.

Cami was always so playful and happy. She could always find a way to have some fun. One day she sat under our oak tree in the front yard and just started ripping the leaves off the branches. She was having such a good time. I had never before seen a dog do that and I still have never seen another dog do it.

The snow does not bother Cami at all. She always just sat there soaking it in and laying and rolling in it. I think if we didn't have her come back in, she would have stayed out in the snow forever.

Cami always made the most out of everything. Normally going down to our pond to get a drink of water, but what do you do when the pond is frozen over? Of course you just lick the ice.

One of Cami's defining characteristics was always the huge blaze of white fur up her chest and neck. The fur was always so thick and soft. I love how you can see it just billowing out in this photo.

Cami was never above rolling around on the ground for a good back scratch.

Cami liked to walk around the yard and survey the area before finding a place to settle down. Her happy tail always help high and wagging.

Despite my wife's insistence prior to owning a Bernese Mountain Dog that they are quiet dogs, Cami was always quite the barker. She even had this strange howling like bark. You would think she was calling out the the rest of her pack.

I just love this photo.  I think she looks so noble in this image. I didn't even remember seeing it before as I was looking through all the pictures. That is why I will always love photography. It has allowed me to enjoy moments I had with her that I don't even remember.

Happy Cami. She always sat and cooperated so well for me when I took her picture. I was always able to get nice profile photos of her. I think she just humored me because she new it was my crazy human obsession.

Cami always loved to spend time down by the pond. That was one of her favorite places to lie down and relax on a regular basis. Step one go get a drink of water. Step two lie down and relax a while.

I love this image for one little thing that you might not be able to see. In this shot you can read her name on her name tag. I just thought that was cool.

I have always thought Cami had gorgeous eyes. I tried over the years to get a good shot of them and this is probably the best one I ever got.

Cami was always so alert and focused to every noise around her.

Cami and Buck asleep on the floor. She was so small compared to her big brother. 

Cami and Buck we inseparable as puppies. They were always together.

They even still cuddled sometimes when they got bigger.

Cami and Buck loved to play in the snow together.

Cami with her brothers and sister down by the pond on a nice winter day.

Cami and Mojo playing when Mojo was just a puppy.

Cami and Buck at the park. This was a hard day because it was when we began to realize that we just couldn't do all the same things with out dogs that we used to anymore.

I don't think I have any more photos of Cami after this day. I love her some much and always want to remember her, but you could see in her face that she was sick and I made the conscious decision that I did not want to remember her that way. I simply didn't want to be looking through pictures and be reminded of how she was sick and the toll it took on her. I wanted to remember her with the happy pictures.

Here's to Cami. A great loving dog who was always happy and affectionate. You will always live on in our hearts.

Incidental Photos

I woke up this morning and went outside to play with the dogs. I got them running around the yard and Caspian was chasing and retrieving his toy. After we all got tired out I decided it was time to let them in. As I was letting them in I realized we had a rose that had just bloomed and the sun was shining on it perfectly. This has been the only rose that has survived the deer so far this year so I decided now would be a good time to go put and photograph it. I was happy when I got out there and saw that there was still dew on the rose and the other flowers in the yard. So I took a "few" photos. 300+ photos later I decided to go back in the house. Sometimes the most enjoyable photo sessions are the ones you never intended to have.